How the Ultimate Enemy Came to Be
by Tough Phantom Critic
Summary: We have seen how the Ultimate Enemy was defeated by Danny, but how was he created in the first place? We know it was from the CAT test, but what is the whole story? This is an accurate story based on TUE episode. Rated for mild violence.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Daniel Fenton and his friends, Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley, were stuck in an assembly at their school, Casper High. Their teacher and Vice Principal, Mr. Lancer, was giving a lecture on the up-coming CAT testing that was meant to decide their futures. Danny was nervous.

"Your future is not carved in stone, people," Mr. Lancer began. "But it may be carved with a number two pencil!"

"Oh please!" Tuck and Sam chimed.

"Quiet!" Danny scolded, annoyed. "This is important!"

Tucker and Sam just raised their eyebrows as Mr. Lancer continued.

"As most of you have probably forgotten, you will be taking the Career Aptitude Test on Saturday," Mr. Lancer said as the letters C.A.T appeared on the board behind him.

"Do well, like Mrs. Fenton, here," he said pointing to Danny's sister, Jazz.

"Who got the highest score in the history of the CAT," Danny said along with Lancer. He was tired of hearing it.

"And a successful future will be assured!" Mr. Lancer continued.

"Fail, like Irving "Third degree" Burns, here," he said as he pointed to the man next to him. "Who got the lowest score in the history of the CAT, and you will be doomed to a career at the Nasty Burger."

As he said so, a picture of the local fast food joint, the Nasty Burger, appeared on the board behind him.

"Hey!" Irving piped up. "Working at the Nasty Burger takes brains, ya know! If those 42 Nasty secret herbs and spices in our Nasty Sauce are overheated, it can cause an explosion that could take out a whole city block!"

Irving looked around. No one seemed to care.

"Oh, who am I kidding?" he said, depressed. "My life is over."

Irving walked off stage with a glum look on his face. Mr. Lancer continued.

"These aren't just the answers to the test," Lancer said holding up a pamphlet. "They're the answers to your future. So study!

He put the answers in a locked suitcase and handcuffed the case to his wrist.

"And remember: It's your future! Do you want fries with it?" Lancer finished ominously, walking off stage.

Danny was petrified. He was convinced that if he failed, he would end up like Irving, whose life was "over." Even worse, Danny never had time to study and didn't do good on tests. He didn't even get good homework grades anymore. Danny didn't want his life to end at the Nasty Burger. What would his friends and family think?

"Dude, are you okay?" Tuck asked Danny. Danny didn't respond; he was lost in his thoughts.

The kids at school thought he was a loser, now, just because Danny was a bit of a klutz. Danny was bullied as it was, but what if he grew up destined to work at the Nasty Burger forever? What if Danny ended up a laughing stock for the rest of his life?

"Danny?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Later that day, Danny sat at home, at the kitchen table, with a mock CAT test, trying to get the answers correct. Frustrated, he ran is hands through his hair, pencil still in hand. His sister, Jazz walked into the room, reading over his shoulder. She raised an eyebrow. He was still on the first question. When, he finally went to pencil in an answer, Jazz made a sound almost in protest. He cautiously tried another answer, then a third, while Jazz patronized all of his choices.

"Okay! I get it," Danny said, annoyed. "You're brilliant. I'm stupid, and I'll never be able to get as high a score as you! So far, I'm not even qualified to scrape the grease off the Nasty grill."

Danny flicked his pencil across the room.

"All I want is for you to succeed, Danny," Jazz said, beginning her all too familiar rant. "And doing well on this test can help. There are three things I've learned in life…"

Danny quoted her perfectly, saying the speech along with her. He had heard it so many times.

"Study hard," They both said. "Do your best, and…"

Jazz trailed off. "Duck!"

A confused Danny just stared at Jazz as a metal device hit him square in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Danny said, rubbing his head. "A boomerang?"

Danny's ghost-hunting and completely oblivious parents came running in. Danny threw the device out the kitchen.

"I call it the Booo-merang!" Danny's father, Jack, said excitedly. "It locks in on a ghost's unique ecto-signature and seeks it out, wherever it goes."

The Booo-merang came back into the kitchen and hit Danny in the back of the head again, and landed in his Mom's hands.

"Ah!" Danny cried, holding his bruised head.

"Although why it's keying into Danny is WAY beyond me," Maddie said, confused.

"What's that, Dan?" Jack asked, looking down at the mock test. "One of those stupid CAT tests? I failed that and I didn't turn out to be a cat."

His parents left the room, leaving Danny feeling frustrated and hopeless.

"Oh, I give up!" Danny cried, throwing his books off the table as Jazz sneezed.

"I'm getting out of the house for a while. Sam and Tucker are waiting for me," Danny told Jazz.

Danny walked out the door in a huff and walked towards the Nasty Burger, which was, ironically, their usual hang out. He was right outside the place and had spotted Sam and Tucker talking to Lancer outside the Nasty Burger.

"Shouldn't you be studying for the CAT's?" Lancer asked.

"I've already studied," Tucker boasted.

"I'm sure we'll do fine," Sam said confidently.

"The test answers in the brief case may indicate otherwise," Mr. Lancer informed them. "Enjoy your Nasty Burgers, while you're still on this side of the counter."

He cackled at his own joke as the two just looked at each other with the same annoyed face. Danny met up with Sam and Tuck, and they went inside and sat down at their usual table. As soon as they had gotten their order, Danny's ghost sense went off.

"Now? Here?" Danny asked exasperated.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!"

As everyone else ran, Danny jumped behind the counter and went ghost.

"No! You can't leave!" Irving Burns said to the other workers. "As a due-ly deputized Nast-ronaut, you took an oath to protect the Nasty Sauce from overheating at all costs!"

"At minimum wage?" a young female worker shouted as she ran out the door. "I don't think so!"

"You can kiss employee of the month goodbye!" Irving called hopelessly.

To Danny's surprise, when he jumped out from behind the counter in ghost form, two ghosts were there to greet him. A very confused Sam and Tucker were watching the events unfold.

"…No, I shall haunt this box filled domain entitled, the Disgusting Sandwich!" the Box Ghost screamed.

"Um. That's the Nasty Burger," Danny said, but he was ignored.

"No, it is I, the Lunch Lady, who shall haunt this meat infested eatery!" the Lunch Lady hollered.

Danny's confusion submitted to annoyance, and he cut across the two ghosts.

"I have a better idea. How about BOTH of you let me have one afternoon of peace and quiet!" Danny said with anguish.

"Never!" the two ghosted yelled simultaneously.

The Lunch Lady built a suit of burgers around herself, while the box ghost proceeded to take all the boxes in the place at once and throw them at Danny. Danny turned intangible and the boxes flew harmlessly through him. The Lunch Lady was more successful. She threw a wall of meat cascading in Danny's direction. His friends were out of harms way, but Danny was not so lucky. He flew directly into the Nasty Sauce heater, damaging it. He didn't notice the meter of the vat pointing towards the yellow zone and slowly creeping towards red, the point of overheating.

A very sticky Danny got up and was immediately thrown towards the wall of the Nasty Burger. Just in time, Danny became intangible and phased through the wall to the outside, through a briefcase chained to a teacher's arm, and then the floor of the restaurant. He reappeared floating in front of the two ghosts. He threw a punch towards the meaty ghost, but a floating box moved in his way. As Danny tried to shake his fist free of the object, the meat-suited Lunch Lady turned to the Box Ghost.

"You saved the meat!" she said in adoration.

"What? Oh uh… yes I have saved the uh… beef patties from harm!" the Box Ghost boasted. "How exactly did I save the beef patties from harm?"

"You moved a box in front of me to take the punch!" she replied. "No one has ever cared for my meat so much!"

"Uh… yes! That is right. I am a hero," the ghost agreed.

At this point, Danny broken free of the crate and turned to face his ghostly foes once more, but they had disappeared together.

All three teens felt the need to say…

"Ew…" they chorused in unison.

Danny got up and tried to peel the Nasty fries off his jumpsuit. He noticed something on his back and peeled it off.

"Oh my gosh," Danny said quietly. "The answers to the CAT's."

His first instinct was to turn it in, but thoughts of Irving Burns clouded his judgment.

"Hello great future!" He shouted in delight.

"You're not actually thinking about peeking at the answers," Tucker began. "Are you?"

"Of course I am," Danny said, changing into human form. "Aren't you?"

Sam looked at Danny in awe. He usually did the right thing. Tucker must have been thinking similarly, because he looked slightly disgruntled. Sam didn't think that Danny could be capable of cheating. He was a hero. He always used his powers for good. He wouldn't really look at the answers… would he?


	3. Chapter 3

The next day at school, Sam was concerned with her friend. She was afraid Danny was still going to cheat. As they walked the halls of Casper High, Sam tried to talk him out of it, or at least make her opinion known.

"So, are you going to return the test answers, or not?" She asked him in accusation.

"I will! I will!" he told her unconvincingly. "I'm just… waiting for the right moment."

"Like maybe… after the test?" Tucker teased.

Danny scowled at his friend. They didn't understand. He was under a lot of pressure. So what if he took a peek at the answers? Would it really matter in the end? Besides, maybe he would just return the answer sheet. He hadn't even opened it yet!

"Yeah, you're right," he said sarcastically. "You're not thinking about cheating on a test that you're convinced will determine your future."

The teens didn't notice a door open behind them. Mr. Lancer peeked his head out and heard the last few sentences of the conversation. He raised a single eyebrow at them. He had a nagging suspicion that he hoped wasn't true. He went to open the case that was cuffed to his arm, just to double check.

Lancer sat down at the desk in the room and placed the case on the table. He took out a key and placed it in the key hole of the case, unlocking it. When he opened the case, he was shocked to find that it was empty. The test answers were gone.

He immediately knew what to do. He had his suspicions about Danny now, so he would speak with Jazz. Jazz was the perfect solution. He could talk to her about Danny since she was older and a model student. She was also close to Danny. He didn't need to convince her. He just needed to make her curious enough for her to see for herself.

He came upon her as she was talking with her peers; a group of girls who all looked rather like the wanted to be elsewhere.

"…So it's a choice between Harvard, Yale, and Stanford," Jazz said proudly. "And I can't make up my mind!"

At that, the group of girls remaining all walked away, leaving Jazz behind.

"So…see you after school? No?" She asked confused.

"Ms. Fenton, can I speak with you after school?" Mr. Lancer asked Jazz, before she could make other plans.

Later that afternoon at Fentonworks, Danny and his friends sat on the floor discussing Danny's situation.

"Guys! C'mon!" Danny argued. "I would have loved to have spent the last month studying, but I was fighting ghosts! Besides, if you two think this test is so meaningless, why do you even care if I cheat? Why shouldn't I open this up and study the answers, huh?

Tucker and Sam looked at one another thinking the same thing. It was wrong to cheat. Neither said anything. Danny had made up his mind.

"No answer? Well, that's all the answer I need!" Danny said with finality.

He placed the envelope on the desk next to him, and stared at it.

"Aren't you gonna say something?" Tucker asked Sam.

"I'm his friend, not his mom," She replied nonchalantly. "He wants to cheat? He can cheat."

Danny was still staring at the envelope, his fingers on the clasp. What was he so afraid of? He wanted a good future and he was going to get it. It was right in front of him. So close. His nervousness was overcome by desperation to succeed. Sam and Tucker watched in awe. He was actually going to do it. He was going to look at the answers. Danny pulled the clasp away from the folder. There. It was open. Now, he just had to pull the answer sheet out…

"The day of the test," Danny said suddenly. "I don't need to memorize the answers. I can just bring them with me."

He put the pamphlet back into his back pack. His friends let out a sigh of relief.

"Let's go on a ghost patrol," Danny suggested. His friends agreed happily and they all ran down the stairs out into the street.

Danny went ghost and looked around, but he could find no one. Then, he saw Skulker and Technus, in full high-tech armor, talking.

Danny raced towards the two ghosts. Sam and Tucker looked out into the street. Oddly, upon sight of Danny, his foes didn't fight him, but stopped talking and stared.

The strange pair then flew off without a word.

Sam and Tucker ran to stand at Danny's side.

"What was that about?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," Danny said. "But I'm going to find out. C'mon."

Danny flew off, his friends running behind him.

Back at Casper High, it was almost sun down. Jazz was still talking to Mr. Lancer.

"So, you're saying Danny stole the CAT test answers?" Jazz asked the overweight teacher. "But how?"

"I don't know," Lancer began. "Unless your brother suddenly gained the ability to turn invisible and reach through solid objects."

Jazz gulped. Danny didn't know that Jazz was aware of his ghost powers, and she didn't want to talk to him about them until he was ready. How would she talk to Dann

"But Mr. Lancer!" Jazz argued. "You still have no proof Danny took the test answers!"

"Fair enough," Lancer replied unconvinced. "He has up until the test to return the answers, but if he cheats, I won't just fail him. I'll destroy his future.

Danny found Technus and Skulker a few blocks away from the school. They spotted him before he could act.

"Whelp!" Skulker called towards Danny. "You have no business here. Leave!"

Skulker shot the gun attached to wrist of his armor directly towards Danny, throwing the halfa backwards.

"Danny!" Sam and Tucker yelled.

"You are a worthy opponent, Ghost child!" Technus yelled in Danny's direction. "But you can not fight us both!"

"We shall destroy you!" They said in unison.

"I don't think so!" Danny said with a smirk.

Danny dodged their next few attacks and landed a punch at Skulker, sending him flying into Technus.

"Watch it!" Technus cried.

"What are you two planning?" Danny asked sternly as he narrowly avoided an ecto beam.

"None of your business, Ghost Brat!" Skulker yelled.

Skulker shot a well - aimed ecto – ray towards Danny that hit its target dead center. Danny went flying into a wall.

"Ah!" Danny yelled as he collided with the brick. He reverted back to human form.

"Another time, my prey," Skulker threatened.

The two ghosts disappeared into the ground. Danny got up and rubbed his head.

"Those two are up to something," Danny thought out loud. "But what?"

"Ghosts are always up to something. You'll get them next time, man," Tucker reassured Danny.

The three teens walked off headed for Danny's house where Jazz had already arrived since talking to Mr. Lancer. She was snooping through Danny's school bag that he had left lying out. She was shocked to find the answers to the CAT test.

"Danny's a cheater!" Jazz gasped. She began to cry.

After all the good he had done, why would he cheat on the test? She had done the best she could to help him. She wished she could have done more to prevent this. For him to use his ghost powers to cheat was unacceptable! She would have to talk to him about this, and convince him not to cheat, once and for all!

Jazz went looking for him all over the city, not aware that he was on his way home. Eventually, when they were both at home, Jazz cornered Danny in his room. She had used the Booo-merang when she couldn't find him in town, and it had led her to him.

"Ow!" Danny cried as the ghost tracking device hit him in the head.

"Danny? We need to talk," Jazz said walking through the door.

"Uh… about what?" Danny said nervously.

"Mr. Lancer was right!" Jazz said sternly. "You did steal the answers! Don't you understand?"

"I didn't steal them!" Danny defended. It was true, but he didn't return them either.

"Danny, I know about everything," Jazz said. Danny raised an eyebrow. "That you're part ghost…"

"No… no I'm not," he said weakly. Jazz ignored him.

"… that you were always doing the right thing with your powers," she said softly. "And I've been covering for you with Mom and Dad, because I'm proud of you and the good that you do!"

Danny was confused. How had Lancer found out he had the test answers? How did Jazz know about his powers? What was he going to do about the test tomorrow? If he didn't cheat, he would fail. He couldn't let that happen.

"But not anymore!" Jazz finished firmly. She really was disappointed in him.

"Jazz, you don't understand!" Danny yelled. He snatched the test answers away from her.

"Danny, you have to return the test answers!" Jazz threatened. "If you don't, I'll be talking to Mr. Lancer and Mom and Dad in the morning!

Danny panicked. He went intangible and jumped towards Jazz, overshadowing her.

"I have to fix this!" Danny cried in his own voice, running out of his room.

He had a plan. Jazz was the one who talked to Mr. Lancer before, so she would be the one to talk to him again… sort of. He grabbed the answers and slipped them into Jazz's bag. Feeling slightly uncomfortable in his sister's girlish and taller form, he sprinted out the door, avoiding his parents along the way. With his sister's phone, he called Mr. Lancer to tell him to meet at the school. The plan was risky and he was working on a hunch, but if it worked, no one would believe Jazz's story. What scared Danny the most, though, was how deep he was in this, and how far he was willing to go to secure his future. He was afraid he would lose himself along the way.


	4. Chapter 4

Mr. Lancer met Jazz at the school - yard, wondering what the news on Danny was. Jazz had sounded urgent and panicked on the phone. Perhaps she had realized that young Daniel did indeed have the test answers. Mr. Lancer had no idea that he was not going to speak with Jazz at all, but with Danny. When Lancer got to the meeting point, he was surprised to see a normally calm Jazz, a bit frazzled.

"Jazz? What is the meaning of this?" Lancer asked.

"I uh…" Danny cleared his throat, putting on his best Jazz impression. "I need to talk to you about Danny!"

"I know he has the test answers," Lancer said. "But our deal still stands. If he returns them before the test, I won't fail him."

"I…uh…He doesn't have the test answers!" Danny said, almost shouting.

Danny held the invisible and intangible answers in his hand. He was waiting for the right moment.

"And how do you plan to convince me of that, Ms. Fenton?" Lancer asked.

"Maybe you made a mistake!" Danny asked. "When was the last time you opened that brief case?"

"The question is," Lancer said. "What I saw last time I opened it. It was empty, and I suspect your brother had something to do with it! Now unless you have substantial evidence that states otherwise…"

He started to turn away. This is what Danny had been waiting for. He slipped the answers through the case. He knew Lancer would open the case when he got home, just to check.

Later that day, Danny went home and down to the lab. Jazz was gonna kill him, but he had to make sure she wouldn't mess things up for him, so he waited for the phone call.

"The Catcher in the Rye!" Lancer said, when he opened the case upon his arrival home. "I've made a terrible mistake! I could have sworn the answers were missing!"

He immediately called the Fenton residence. Danny picked up. He put on his best Jazz voice again and waited for the news.

"Jasmine, I must be losing my mind, but the answers are here," Lancer said. "Your brother is in the clear."

"YES! I mean uh… Thank you, Mr. Lancer," Danny said. "I…uh…he won't let you down!"

It worked, but Jazz was going to be mad. He had to figure out what to say to her, but he couldn't worry about that now. Danny ran up to Jazz's room. He backed out of her body and laid her on the bed. Danny could only hope she wouldn't wake up until morning.

The next day, Jazz awoke in her room. She gasped. She had had a horrible nightmare about fighting with Danny!

"Huh? What?" Jazz asked aloud. How did she get in here? What was that dream about?

Just then, Jack Fenton kicked open her door.

"What's up, Princess? Are you okay?" Jack asked worriedly.

"I'm in my bed?" Jazz asked as her mother laughed and knocked her husband aside with an entrance similar to his.

"Well of course you're in your bed, sweetie!" Maddie Fenton replied with a smile, as Jack went to stand beside her.

"Danny said you fell asleep helping him study and he tucked you in," Maddie said proudly.

"He even woke up bright and early to make sure nothing happened to make him late for the big test!" Jack continued with a smile.

Jazz was starting to realize what was really going on. That hadn't been a dream. Even worse, he was still going to cheat! What had happened? Fighting with him was the last thing she remembered. She just had to get to school to stop him!

"Oh no!" She thought aloud. "The test!"

She ran by her mother who had a confused, but obliviously accepting smile on her face, and her father who was still holding the Boo-merang. She immediately headed towards the school.

Meanwhile, Danny was already in class…invisible.

He was early as planned and Mr. Lancer was almost completely alone. The exceptions were a few other teens who nervously felt the need to be early. Danny slipped his invisible and intangible arm into the briefcase chained to Mr. Lancer's arms. He pulled out the answers and slipped through the wall, into the hallway. He turned visible and looked down, his back to the door. He stared down at his hands and the test answers they were holding.

What was he doing? He couldn't cheat on the SAT's. He was Amity Park's hero. This was wrong. But he had gotten himself in so deep; he couldn't turn back now. Besides, his perfect future was so close, and all he had to do now was write a few answers on a piece of paper.

He sighed as he walked back in to the classroom, invisible answers in hand. What was he going to tell Jazz? After all she had done for him, this was how he repaid her. Well, it was too late now.

He sat down to take the test as Sam and Tucker walked in with dismal expressions on their faces. As far as they knew, nothing had happened out of the ordinary and he had the answers all this time.

Sam never thought Danny was capable of cheating, but she knew that he wanted to be like his sister. He wanted to be promised a great future: a sure one. After all he had been through, she could understand how much he wanted to be told that his future wouldn't contain any more surprises. What she didn't understand was why he wanted to get it this way. She didn't need some stupid test result to know that she'd be okay. Then again, her parent's weren't ghost hunters. They were millionaires.

Tucker felt similar to Sam. Tuck had always been the one to bend the rules, not Danny. What was even more upsetting was that Danny didn't listen to Sam. Sam was always helping Danny make the right choices, and Danny always did. This test had really messed with Danny's head, but what could Tucker do? Rat out his best friend? Not gonna happen.

Danny slipped the answers under the table.


	5. Chapter 5

Lancer passed out the tests and sat down at his desk to read his book, but for the first time in a long time, he couldn't enjoy it. He kept thinking about how he was sure the answers had been gone, but when he checked for Jazz, they were right where he left them.

He must have made a mistake. Meanwhile, Danny was losing a war with himself.

Danny didn't feel like himself anymore. He felt like he was going to be sick. He looked at the answers and scribbled them into the blanks on his test. He felt a serious urge to stop now and turn the answers in, but he knew he couldn't. His head throbbed and his eyes burned.

I should turn them in,

But Lancer will fail me!

How can I be a hero if I can't even honestly take a stupid test?

A test that decides my future! I can't turn the answers in, now.

I need to stop! I need to do the right thing!

I'll end up at the Nasty Burger!

Is that so bad?

Yes! What will Sam and Tuck think? What will Jazz think? What will my parents think?

Dad said the test didn't matter.

Jazz the "Future Brain Surgeon" seemed to think it mattered!

It's wrong.

It's right!

No, it's not.

But what if it is?

It's not.

It's my future!

I can't do this!

Yes, I can. I have to! A hero deserves a great future,

But what kind of lousy hero does this make me?

One without a future, if I fail.

Danny put down his pencil. Sam and Tucker were watching him as they worked. Sam thought Danny looked horrible. Tucker was worried he might have a heart attack right there in his seat. He tried to ask Danny if he was okay, but Lancer cut in.

"Mr. Fenton, Mr. Foley… Is there a problem?"

Danny looked up nervously. He had to make a decision.

"No problems, Mr. Lancer," Danny said guiltily. He had hated the decision as soon as he had made it. He had to finish the test.

Mr. Lancer went back to his book, but again, he couldn't focus.

A thought occurred to Mr. Lancer. Had the seal been broken when he looked at the answers last? Now that he thought about it, it seemed that it was highly likely. Maybe he would just check one last time…

Jazz rushed to the school. She didn't know what she'd do when she got there, but she had to do something.

She was too late! She looked into the classroom and Danny was already taking the test. Even worse, Mr. Lancer was opening his briefcase! No!

"Count of Monte Cristo!" Mr. Lancer cried, making all the students jump. Danny was sweating bullets, as Mr. Lancer walked towards him. The answers hadn't been in the briefcase. When Lancer got to Danny's desk, he immediately spotted the answers half hidden underneath.

"Mr. Fenton, see me outside NOW!" Lancer yelled, red in the face. "And bring the answers with you…" he finished with a whisper that Tucker and Sam could barely hear. Danny's heart sank.

They walked outside to meet a very pale Jazz, who had seen the whole thing. She had wanted so badly for Danny to do the right thing.

"I don't know how you got these answers, but I will find out!" Mr. Lancer turned to Jazz.

"You too, Ms. Fenton!" Lancer said to Jazz. "And while we're at it…"

Lancer walked back inside. He reappeared in the hallway with Sam and Tucker by the collars.

"I'm sure you two were in on this!" Lancer said to Tuck and Sam.

"No!" Danny cried.

"Oh yes, Mr. Fenton!" Lancer said loudly. "They are coming too!"

In ten minutes, they had all arrived at the Nasty Burger. Danny's parents pulled up in the Fenton RV. Maddie and Jack hoped out.

"Mr. Lancer, what is the meaning of all this?" Maddie began. "Danny is something wrong?"

Little did they know the gauge on the Nasty Sauce container was on yellow zone, right before the red, and the sauce was slowly heating to a dangerous temperature, while the beeping alert was ignored.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, Daniel… this is the Nasty Burger," Mr. Lancer began. "When people fail, this is where they end up, whether they fail because they don't study, or because they… cheated." Lancer held up the stolen test answers ominously.

Danny's parents gasped in awe.

"Danny, is this true?" Jack asked.

"Did you cheat?" Maddie finished with a sad look.

Danny looked down in guilt, not wanting to meet his mother's eyes. With the look on his parents faces, he now knew he had chosen wrong, and not because he got caught.

"Yes. It's true,"

"We are very disappointed in you…" Jack told Danny.

"How could you do something like this?" Danny's mother asked him.

"I don't know…I…" Danny trailed off.

Tucker looked away awkwardly, not knowing what to think. Jazz looked at her brother with what should have been disappointment, but wasn't. It was pity. She was more upset with herself. She couldn't help thinking that she could have stopped all this from happening.

Sam looked straight at Danny, thinking of how and why he took the answers. She couldn't say it was right, but she wasn't mad at him, or disappointed, or even upset with him at all. She felt like she watched him lose a war with himself. It was too familiar…

"We are here to find out exactly how he got these answers," Lancer continued. "These three are here because they obviously knew something about it!"

"No, they don't," Danny lied. He didn't want his friends and sister paying for his mistake. "Well, Jazz did, but I talked her into believing I didn't have the answers."

"They how exactly did you get these answers?" Lancer asked.

"I… had help," Danny replied nervously.

"From who?"

Danny was thinking at the speed of light. He looked up at his friends and sister for suggestion, but the three had looks of confusion and horror on their faces, including Sam who was usually the brains of the group, and Jazz who always covered for him. They had nothing to offer, but Danny thought of something.

"Danny Phantom," he said. It wasn't technically a lie, and a ghost was the only thing that would explain the test-answer switcheroo. Everyone had genuine expressions of shock on their faces.

"Danny!" Maddie cried. "You never trust a ghost! Look where it has landed you!"

"And," Jack continued. "You never…ever trust a filthy rotten ghost like Phantom!"

His mother's comment stung. His face looked even more dismal now. He had expected it, but it hurt just the same, especially since he wasn't feeling like a hero right now. He felt filthy rotten.

Jazz looked at Danny in utter sadness. She felt like it was all her fault. Her baby brother was in trouble that she could have stopped. Her parent's hated his other half even more now.

Sam was feeling similarly. Even though the cheating was bad and he should have never done it, she felt like he didn't deserve this kind of torture. No kid should feel like their parents hate them.

Tuck wanted to defend Danny, and to tell his parents about all the times he had used his powers for good. He wanted to tell them that his pal messed up, but every dude has got to make a mistake every now and then.

"I could just rip that ghost apart!" Jack finished viciously. He mimicked the action of ripping something.

Danny looked at Jazz. Jazz looked at his face, and couldn't take it anymore. She decided to do something.

"You can't punish him, Mr. Lancer, if he wasn't the one who stole the test answers!" Jazz said like a lawyer. "Technically, Danny Phantom stole them,"

"But I still cheated," Danny said. He didn't want to get off easy, because it wasn't anyone else who stole those answers; he did it himself.

"Exactly correct," Mr. Lancer said with authority. "I think we should discuss Daniel's punish…"

"Shh!" Danny said, focused on something a bit more worrisome.

"You won't get out of your punishment by trying to get me to be quiet, so I suggest…"

"Do you hear that?" Danny asked.

"This is not a game, Daniel!" Lancer said, his voice raised.

"No, I hear it too!" Tucker chimed in.

Soon they all heard it. Danny turned to walk towards the sound with everyone following. They found out that it was the Nasty Sauce monitor…

But it was too late…

"We need to get out of here!" Danny yelled at the others.

BOOM


End file.
